Battle of Shiloh

Also:

Battle of Pittsburgh Landing

General Albert Sidney Johnston, with General P.G.T. Beauregard, attacked Grant's unsuspecting troops at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River on April 6th. One of the first positions they reached was that of Sherman's division, camped near Shiloh Chapel. The Southerners achieved initial success, pushing the Union army back towards the river. However, Johnston was killed and Beauregard decided not to push his offensive as the day came to a close. Meanwhile, Union reinforcements arrived at the end of the day and the next day Grant was able to regroup and drive back the Confederates, but only after a huge loss of life.

This was the first truly enormous battle of the war, in terms of participants and casualties. About 100,000 soldiers participated, the majority never having been in combat before. 23,746 men were killed, wounded, or missing, a figure exceeding the total casualties of all previous American wars combined. This showed both sides that the war would not be won easily.

The Confederates were forced to withdraw to Corinth, and initially the battle was greeted in the North as a glorious victory. However, once the extent of the casualties became apparent, the public turned on Grant, who was replaced by his superior General Halleck. Little did the public realize that this was but the first of many more battles of this magnitude to follow.

By the Civil War, prints like those issued by Currier & Ives, were very popular, leading to the appearance of popular print publishers in many cities around the country. One such was the Gibson Company from Cincinnati, and they, like their larger competitor, issued a number of stirring, small folio prints of Civil War battles. This is a rare example of their work. $375

Amid firing cannons and falling soldiers, General U.S. Grant directs the Union troops in one of the battles of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing. Characteristic of this battle are the heavy woods and intense action. Though the scene is dominated by Union forces, the Confederate army is indicated by puffs of gunfire and illustrated in the distance at the print's left-hand edge. This print was first issued by the Boston Prang firm, and then reissued a few years later by the American Lithographic Co.. The image was made by chromolithography, where each color was printed by a separate stone. Well detailed and finely colored, this dramatic print would have been sold to veterans of the great conflict. NA

A rare Civil War scene of Shiloh Spring, drawn sometime around the Battle of Shiloh, 1862. This image shows scattered tree trunks, which may have been the result of the army gathering fire wood, but more likely was the result of the cannon and rifle fire during the battle. The image includes four mounted Union soldiers and an infantryman filling his canteen at the spring. This print is a lithograph after a sketch by A.E. Mathews, a soldier in the 31st. Ohio Volunteer Regiment. Mathews, who went on to considerable fame as a lithographic artist of western scenes, worked as an artist before the war and he continued this work once he had joined the Union army. Mathews drew not only this image, but also one of the Shiloh Church (after which the battle was named) and one of the battle itself. These prints may have been commissioned by Mathews from Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co., with hopes of selling them to the public back home as frameable prints or possibly in a portfolio. Ehrgott, Forbriger & Co. are particularly known for the Civil War portraits, but they also issued a portfolio of views in West Virginia after another Ohio soldier, J. Nep Roesler that may have inspired Mathews to try his luck with a series of Civil War scenes. Whatever its nature, this project appears to have been unsuccessful as the prints are very rare. $250

Alonzo Chappel. "Battle of Shiloh. Recapture of Artillery by a portion of Gen. Rosseau's [sic] Command." From Battles of the United States by Sea and Land. New York: Johnson, Fry & Co., ca. 1865. 5 1/2 x 7 3/8. Steel engraving. Very good condition.

Chappel liked to show close up action from battles, and this is a nice example of his work. Lovell Rousseau was a Kentucky Senator who resigned to take up a position leading Kentucky volunteers for the Union army. He served bravely in a number of battles, including Shiloh, where his troops recaptured an artillery position which had been earlier overrun by the Confederates. $75

W. Momberger. "Battle of Pittsburgh [sic] Landing." From The Great Rebellion. Connecticut: Hurlburt, Williams, & Co., 1862. 4 1/4 x 7 3/8. Steel engraving.
Shows the Union forces pushed back to the river and supported by the gun boats. $75

W. Momberger. "The Battle at Pittsburg Landing. From John S.C. Abbott's The History of the Civil War in America. New York: Henry Bill, 1866. 4 1/2 x 7 1/2. Steel engraving.

Another image by Momberger of the Union forces backed up to the Tennessee River. $75

F.O.C. Darley. "Battle of Shiloh, Tenn. Charge of General Grant." From The Great Civil War. New York: Virtue & Yorston, ca. 1865. Steel engraving. Slight smudge in title area.

A wild scene of a wild looking Grant leading his men in a charge against the Confederate troops. $65

Prints from Harper's Weekly

At first the Battle of Shiloh seemed like a Union victory, but the terrible loss of life soon changed the feeling of joy in the North to sadness. It was, though, always of considerable interest to readers of Harper's

Maps from the U.S. War Department's Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington: Gov't. Printing Office, 1891-95. Lithographed maps, with some highlight color. Double folio size. NB: The maps from this atlas are printed on brittle paper, so there may be short tears in this map.

Richard Stephenson has written, "This is the most detailed atlas yet published on the Civil War. It consists of reproductions of maps compiled by both Union and Confederate soldiers." [Stephenson, Civil War Maps, p 99.] The maps show many of the events of the Civil War with great detail, including topography, troop placements and movements, and other information of interest. These are the best near contemporary maps available of many of these battles, sieges, and other events of this conflict.